Panaji: Ruling Congress party in Goa has dismissed as "rumours" media reports of leadership change in the state in the wake of allegations of illegal mining against Chief minister Digambar Kamat.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Goa Congress chief Subhash Shirodkar said there were only rumours that are making rounds about the replacement of Kamat as the state Chief Minister.

"The news, which are carried as headlines on leadership change, comes as a shock for me. It's all rumour-mongering," Shirodkar said.

Taking a dig at the media reports, he said, "I feel that I am reading newspapers in my dreams."

He said that so far, no discussions to this effect in Goa or in Delhi has taken place.

When questioned whether Kamat would be projected as the Congress chief minister in Goa assembly elections scheduled next year, Shirodkar said "let's wait. There is still time to decide such things."

The GPCC Chief said the party's Goa desk in-charge Jagmitsingh Brar and All India Congress Committee secretary Sudhakar Reddy would arrive in Goa on October 21 to decide on the first list of candidates.

"We will be declaring the first list of candidates in advance," he said.

BJP seeks Goa CM's removal

Demanding immediate sacking of Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, BJP on Friday pressed for a CBI probe into the mining scam, which it pegged at about Rs 25,000 crore.

"We demand that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat be immediately sacked and a CBI inquiry be ordered into the mining scam in Goa, which I believe is one of the biggest scams in the country," said BJP leader Manohar Parrikar.

The former chief minister, who is now leader of Opposition in Goa, also headed the public accounts committee (PAC) of the state Assembly which unearthed the alleged mining scam in the state and pointed a finger at Kamat.

While the PAC had said the scam is to the tune of Rs 4,000-crore scam, Parrikar on Friday put the figure at Rs 25,000 crore.

"It is a very serious scam, going by its scale which is mind boggling. It has happened with active collusion of politicians," he said.

"The illegal mining scam in Goa is on a large scale which cannot be compared as it is a small state. The scam during the last five years of Congress government is of Rs 22,000 to 25,000 crore, about 15 percent of what you find in 2G scam," he alleged.

Parrikar said the files show a "very clear nexus between the politicians and bureaucrats", while citing the instance of one particular file which he claimed has been cleared at all levels in just eight hours.

He also alleged that there was an attempt to scuttle the PAC probe, which was based on documents from the mining and other concerned departments of the state. (Agencies)